Blogosphere - In this section you'll find commentary, opinion and editorials from blogs and newspapers around the country. The opinions expressed in these blogs do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Reconnecting America.

TRANSPORT

Blogosphere: Russia's Trampoline Sidewalk

Architect's Newspaper

There are countless ways to get around cities these days-on foot, bike, or skateboard, by transit or car-but Estonian firm Salto Architects has imagined what could be the next dedicated lane to hit a street near you: the Fast Track trampoline sidewalk...Read On

Blogosphere: 4 Reasons Retailers Don't Need Parking

The Atlantic Cities

A major rationale for the supply of parking spaces in city shopping centers is that customers won't come without them. The anecdotal argument makes sense - retailers believe that most consumers arrive by car and believe free or cheap parking plays a major role in choosing a destination ..Read On

Blogosphere: The Machines That Run SF's Cable Cars

Venue (via Good)

Every day and night, beneath the streets of San Francisco, huge wheels turn, pulling cable cars to their far-flung destinations and back again, as if weaving them across the city in loops...Read On

Blogosphere: Paris Could Ban Older Cars from City

Stephen Rees' Blog

BY proposing to reduce air pollution by banning vehicles made before 1997, Mayor Bertrand Delanoë has angered vintage car owners and motorist groups and raised concerns among those who say they cannot afford new cars...Read On

Blogosphere: Bernstein - Poverty and Transportation

Better Cities and Towns

Leave no assistance behind-National policy recognizes the importance of paying for food, housing, and medical care. For means-tested families, these are all subsidized with food stamps, Section 8 housing vouchers, and Medicaid...Read On

Blogosphere: Which Metro Stations Are Busiest?

Greater Greater Washington

Thanks to data from Metro's planning department, we have the ability to analyze many different ridership patterns. Today, let's take a look at stations, and see which are the busiest...Read On

URBANISM | HOUSING | CITIES | ENVIRONMENT

Blogosphere: Rob Ford's Greatest Hits

DC Streetsblog

Rob Ford, internationally renowned nemesis of the livable streets movement, was removed from his post as mayor of Toronto today after being found guilty of violating local ethics laws. Ford will have an opportunity to appeal the ruling...Read On

Blogosphere: Japan's 17th Century Security Floors

Deconcrete

In order to detect human presence inside a house, and as a protection measure against ninja stealth walking, Nightingale Floors (Uguisu-Bari 鴬張り) were invented in Japan around the 17th century...Read On

Blogosphere: China's Extreme Land Holdouts

Atlantic Cities

The Chinese have a name for buildings that resist demolition for development projects - dingzihu, or "nail house." Pictures of what may be the rapidly urbanizing country's most dramatic example, a house belonging to 67-year-old Lou Baogen and his wife located outside the city of Wenling in the Zhejiang province...Read On

Blogosphere: More Housing Means Lower Prices

Seattle Times

Whatever one might think of the Seattle Times editorial board, there is one story that the paper is running this week that confirms that their reporters are at least in touch with reality...Read On

Blogosphere: Manila's Divided Cityscapes

The Polis Blog

Manila is one of the most dense and rapidly growing cities in the world. The metropolitan area hosts over 11 million people in 16 municipalities...Read On

Blogosphere: Diversity is Changing More Than Politics

Metro Trends Blog

The presidential election got everybody talking about our country's growing diversity. But the changing makeup of America's population has implications that go far beyond politics. Immigration, the aging of the baby-boom generation, growing tolerance of gays and lesbians, and evolving norms about marriage and childbearing are transforming American society...Read On

Blogosphere: How Rob Ford Got Himself Removed

The Atlantic Cities

Rob Ford, the football-coaching, budget-tightening, bike-lane-removing, casino-desiring mayor of Toronto, has officially been removed from office...Read On

Blogosphere: NYC Cheaper Than Ought To Be

Austin Contrarian

Charlie Gardner finds an association between metropolitan area weighted density and housing affordability:..Read On

Blogosphere: Brown Takes on Critics at Greenbuild

ASLA Dirt

California Governor Jerry Brown, aka Governor "Moonbeam," took on his many critics at the 2012 Greenbuild in San Francisco, saying the people who originally called him that are "no longer around, while I still am."..Read On

Blogosphere: Do Landscape Arch's Need to Open Convo

ASLA Dirt

When landscape architects get together formally to talk about the profession these days, their conversations all seem to follow a similar arc...Read On

Blogosphere: Secret World on Upper West Side

Scout NYC

When you first turn onto West 95th Street from Broadway, it seems like pretty much any Upper West Side block: a few apartment buildings, some fire escapes, a tree or two...Nothing in particular to catch the eye...Read On

Blogosphere: Downtown Denver's Residential Boom

Denver Infill

As residents and visitors to the Mile High City may have noticed, there's significant multifamily residential construction underway in the Downtown Denver area...Nothing in particular to catch the eye...Read On

Jeff Wood, Reconnecting America's New Media Director and Chief Cartographer, collects news stories and blog posts about transit and transit-oriented development from around the country and posts them at TheDirectTransfer.com. Jeff then takes the top 10 articles in each of five categories and sends that out as Other Side of the Tracks email newsletter. The content of that email is then posted here.